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Windows Update fails with error code 8000FFFF

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today I've checked whether my system has been updated in the last days. After having opened Windows Update, it showed that the last update has been done on Febr. 19, 2009 (KB961367) and last time it checked for updates was Febr. 22, 2009.

I've started the search by clicking on "Search for new updates" but after a few seconds of activity I've received an error message saying that an unknown error occured while searching for new updates (error code 8000FFFF). Since I couldn't find any related posting in the Windows 7 forums I'm now asking you for any help on that...

Válaszok

Well folks. it appears that there are only 2 ways to resolve this issue:

1) An in place 'upgrade'2) A format and reinstall

@ Wolfie: I'm well aware of how to extract .cab files. The issue was centered on extracting their contents and getting the files installed so that information was being stored in the registry and WinSxS.

This thread is done. If anyone comes across the same or similar issue, please start a new thread.MowGreen
MVP Data Center Management - Update Services
Consumer Security

I'm having an identical error. Unfortunately, Mark, the fix you describe is for Vista and doesn't work on Win7. Furthermore, the equivalent manual fix (deleting some keys under HKLM/COMPONENTS) appears to be irrelevant to this problem as those keys (PendingXmlIdentifier etc) don't exist on my system anyway (Win7 build 7000 x64).

Interestingly, a search through my logs shows that the problem started on 19 Feb for me as well. I only actually noticed it today when I decided to run Windows Update manually because of the test that's going on.Here are some relevant lines from the logs which relate to the point at which this error first appears there:

Note the line :2009-02-19 14:43:27, Info CSI 00000006 Pending transaction content must be resolved, cannot begin another transaction yetI'm no Windows system engineer, but that looks a bit suspicious to me. :)

Anyway, I hope someone who knows how to interpret these logs properly manages to take a look at them, as right now Windows Update is completely inoperative on my machine, and has been for the past week.

Unfortunately these keys are not existing here so that fix couldn't work (before I've posted here I have checked that error message via Google and there were some results leading to the same "solution" which surely works on Vista machines but not on mine)...

Since charleski is reporting the same problem which has obviously started on the same day (the only difference is that I'm working on a 32-bit Windows 7 system) I could imagine that a fix/patch by Microsoft is necessary to get back the automatic update functionality...

I'm not convinced but pretty sure that there was a change of the self-update mechanism which lead to this issue. Either the registry has become defect in that point or the Windows Update created some changes before (during the last succesful update) which are preventing me from getting further updates right now...

Of course I used the feedback feature to inform the Windows 7 programming team. Since we will get no feedback from MS here, we will have to wait for further information or help (patch or fix). Reinstalling Windows 7 would surely solve the issue for now but I believe it would reoccur after a while as long as the root cause is not identified...

Yes, this appears to be an indicator of this error. What might be helpful is if you could post the same period (2009-02-28 05:31 and thereabouts) from your CBS.log.To access CBS.log (which is dynamically updated and can't be viewed normally), open a command window with admin privileges and then typexcopy %windir%\logs\CBS\CBS.log C:\CBS-diag.log(type F when it asks you if the target is a File or Directory)

You will then be able to browse the contents of C:\CBS-diag.log freely. I'd be interested to know if CBS.log exhibits the same behaviour I found, since you seem to be experiencing the same error with CBS EvaluateApplicability. I'm referring to the following lines from my own CBS.log:2009-02-19 14:43:27, Info CBS Appl: Evaluating package applicability for package WUClient-SelfUpdate-ActiveX~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~7.4.7000.81, applicable state: Installed2009-02-19 14:43:27, Info CSI 00000006 Pending transaction content must be resolved, cannot begin another transaction yet2009-02-19 14:43:27, Error CSI 00000007 (F) E_UNEXPECTED #135# from Windows::COM::CComponentStore::InternalTransact(...)[gle=0x8000ffff]2009-02-19 14:43:27, Error CSI 00000008@2009/2/19:14:43:27.871 (F) d:\win7beta\base\wcp\componentstore\com\store.cpp(4209): Error E_UNEXPECTED originated in function Windows::COM::CComponentStore::InternalTransact expression: ((HRESULT)0x8000FFFFL)

If those lines match, then it would seem that we have a similar problem with a package that thinks it's installed when in fact it isn't. Or at least, that's my best guess as to what's happening.

And yeah, it would be nice to have some MSFT input on this, even if it's just, "OK, we see something's gone wrong that we need to fix." :) I've tried to dig as deep as I can into the logs to work out what's happening here. If anyone from MSFT needs more info, I'll be happy to provide it.

[I don't want this to seem a slur on Mark Ferguson's excellent input - his replies on this thread and many others that I've looked at have been very useful in narrowing down the problem. It seems right now that this is a technical Win7 beta problem, but I spent a while trying the fixes he described here and in other threads to make sure this wasn't a more general issue related to the Vista codebase of Win7. Narrowing down the field of issues is always a good idea, and thanks to Mark for suggesting several fixes (here and elsewhere) that needed to be ruled out.]

The Fatal error, 0x8000ffff, is being caused by the installation failure of the new version of the Windows Update Agent's [WUA] ActiveX component.Interference by an antivirus/security suite/or a 3rd party firewall may be the cause.

See if WuSetupV.exe exists at this location Windows\SoftwareDistribution\SelfUpdate\Handler

If it does, you could try clean booting the system and running wusetupv.exe from an Elevated Command Prompt to see if that gets the WUA installed properly. Restart the system afterwards as the issue could also stem from a lack of a service restart when it initially attempted to install.

Unfortunately Windows\SoftwareDistribution\SelfUpdate\Handler is empty, though Windows\SoftwareDistribution\SelfUpdate\ contains several .mum files:WUClient-SelfUpdate-ActiveX~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~7.4.7000.81.mumWUClient-SelfUpdate-Aux-TopLevel~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~7.4.7000.81.mumWUClient-SelfUpdate-Core-TopLevel~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~7.4.7000.81.mumThese appear to be xml files describing the assemblies to be applied to differing versions and regions. There's no evidence that the package has actually been downloaded, however.

Unfortunately Windows\SoftwareDistribution\SelfUpdate\Handler is empty, though Windows\SoftwareDistribution\SelfUpdate\ contains several .mum files:WUClient-SelfUpdate-ActiveX~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~7.4.7000.81.mumWUClient-SelfUpdate-Aux-TopLevel~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~7.4.7000.81.mumWUClient-SelfUpdate-Core-TopLevel~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~7.4.7000.81.mumThese appear to be xml files describing the assemblies to be applied to differing versions and regions. There's no evidence that the package has actually been downloaded, however.

I just checked: there are two software items installed since 18/2 (both on 20/2).One was Drive Image XML (which didn't work anyway). I removed that. Still no updates.

The other is AESEUS Partition Manager, which hasn't done anything to this drive - it partitioned a third hard drive that I added to the machine.

Would adding a SATA drive to a machine with two IDE drives cause Windows Update to fail?

Normally, it won’t cause Windows Update problem.

At this time, I suggest you take the following steps to troubleshoot the issue.

1. Close all the open windows.2. Click the "Start" Button, click "All programs", and click "Accessories".3. Right-click "Command Prompt", and click "Run as administrator".4. In "Administrator: Command Prompt" window, type in "net stop WuAuServ" (without the quotes) and press Enter.

5. Click the "Start" Button, in the "Start Search" box, type in "%windir%" (without the quotes) and press Enter.6. In the opened folder, look for the folder named "SoftwareDistribution".7. Right-click on the folder, select "Rename" and type "SDold" (without the quotes) to rename this folder.8. Still in "Administrator: Command Prompt" window, type the command "net start WuAuServ" (without the quotes) in the opened window to restart the Windows Updates service.

After completing the above steps, please restart the computer and try to run Windows Update again.

- stopping the Windows Update Service- deleting the contents of the Software Distribution folder- starting the Windows Udpate Service

While I haven't tried this in Win7, it has saved my bacon several times in Vista.In Vista you:

- Open an elevated (Run as Administrator) Command Prompt and type "net stop wuauserv" (without the quotes) and press Enter.- Once the service has stopped, open an elevated Windows Explorer window and delete the contents of the Software Distribution folder (in C:\Windows). Do not delete the folder itself.- Once that's done, go back to the elevated Command Prompt window and type "net start wuauserv" (without the quotes) and press Enter.- John

The anti-virus on the machine is Avira. It was OK for several weeks - the problem is more recent. I'm away from home at the moment, but will try at the weekend with Avira turned off to see if that changes anything.

Go to the Windows Orb (Start), type %windir%\windowsupdate.log and press Enter. To find the error(s), go to the end of the file (Ctrl+End) then use ‘Find’ (Ctrl+F) to check for the word 'fatal', use search ‘Up’ to search upwards from the end of the file.

Now then, have you tried an "in place upgrade"? That is, installing Win 7 on top of itself? From some of the things I've found on similar issues on Vista, one solution was to do the upgrade on top of itself. This will preserve your existing setup, but will install a fresh copy of the OS. I'm guessing something in the WU got corrupted somewhere along the line and that's what's causing the problem. For Vista, there's an option of downloading the Windows Update modules as a stand alone app - but I kinda doubt they'd work with Win 7 just yet.

I'm too apprehensive to risk running a reinstall. The time is past for installing Win 7 Beta, so I can see it refusing, and leaving me stuck. I'd hate to lose the functionality of it right now. I'll live without the updates if that's the alternative.

The "48 hours ago" thing is a default: it's been saying that all along. I don't think it indicates a specific time when the problem first occurred.

I was hoping there would be a registry entry to delete or a file to download/install. It looks as if there isn't, yet. Maybe this is exactly the sort of thing the Win7 Beta was meant to find and fix, in which case I've done my thing for the test programme.

Well... I dunno what to tell you. I still think you may have something whacked with the Windows Update files - and an "In Place Upgrade" may fix it. An In place upgrade simply refreshes what you've got - without wiping out everything else you've got installed. 30 to 45 minutes and it's back up and running.

My installation of Win 7 seems to be as fast, if not a bit faster than it was originally. There HAVE been a few patches shipped out over the past few months that have improved speed. The Windows Live login helper alone seems to have doubled IE 8's speed when it comes to accessing MS related sites that require a log in.

I've been posting on a separate thread. I have the same problem with error 8000FFFF. There is no Wusetupv.exe on my machine.

Has anyone found a solution? The only meaningful suggestion I've had is to reinstall Win 7, but I'm worried that will trigger the "time expired" for new installations and leave me high and dry. I'd rather find the specific problem and fix it.

This must be a major concern for Microsoft - it can't be a satisfactory way for the updater to behave.

8000FFFF signifies a catastrophic error, which is not really useful. Either the system is unable to evaluate the applicability of the WUA due to restrictions caused by the installed AV or there's file corruption in WinSxS that is preventing the evaluation. If Wusetupv.exe is not present, there's a strong likelihood that the installed AV is preventing it from being downloaded.

Renaming/deleting the SoftwareDistribution folder accomplishes nothing in this situation except deleting the updating history stored in DataStore.ebd. What's needed is a method to force the installation of the WUA.

You can try running sfc /scannow from an Elevated Command Prompt or do an 'inplace' upgrade and hope the system reverts to the original version of the WUA, 7.3.7000.0. The first solution rarely resolves the error but, give it a shot.

Two questions:

1) Are there any WUCLIENT-SelfUpdate___.cat or .mum files in WINDOWS\servicing\Packages ?

2) In the servicing\Sessions subfolder, are there any .xml files Modified on 2/18 ? Just checked the ones on my system and they appear to log the WUA's package staging

At the very least, we'll see if the WUA was actually downloaded or not by the system.

BTW, does the WindowsUpdate.log go back to February ? If it does, then suggest you check around the middle of the month, maybe even 2/18, as that was around the time the latest release of the WUA came out automatically via Windows Update for Win7. That's when the 8000FFFF error should have first appeared.

I tried the first step: stopped Avast (it's that, not Avira). Then opened an Admin CMD window and typed: sfc /scannow The response was "Beginning system scan. This process will take some time." followed almost immediately by "Windows Resource Protection could not perform the requested operation." and back to the C:\Windows\system32 prompt.

There are 370 items in C:\Windows\servicing\Packages but none of them have WUCLIENT in the name.

There are no .xml files in servicing\Sessions that show Feb 18 as the date. A snip of the folder contents (below, if I've linked it correctly) shows the dates are all December 12 and 13, January 14, and March 31.

<img src="http://www.kirbycane.plus.com/servicing_sessions.jpg" />

The WindowsUpdate.log earliest entry is 2009-02-09

When I first reported the problem, there was a log entry that said "Most recent check for updates: 18/2/2009 at 23:24". That log has gone now - it disappeared with the renaming of SoftwareDistribution to SDold above.

I tried the first step: stopped Avast (it's that, not Avira). Then opened an Admin CMD window and typed: sfc /scannow The response was "Beginning system scan. This process will take some time." followed almost immediately by "Windows Resource Protection could not perform the requested operation." and back to the C:\Windows\system32 prompt.

There are 370 items in C:\Windows\servicing\Packages but none of them have WUCLIENT in the name.

There are no .xml files in servicing\Sessions that show Feb 18 as the date. A snip of the folder contents (below, if I've linked it correctly) shows the dates are all December 12 and 13, January 14, and March 31.

<img src="http://www.kirbycane.plus.com/servicing_sessions.jpg" />

The WindowsUpdate.log earliest entry is 2009-02-09

When I first reported the problem, there was a log entry that said "Most recent check for updates: 18/2/2009 at 23:24". That log has gone now - it disappeared with the renaming of SoftwareDistribution to SDold above.

Then the WUA packages were never staged for download. Since the WindowsUpdate.log goes back to 2009-02-09, then it should show the first attempt at downloading the WUA and the should include the first instance of the 8000FFFF error code. Open it, click Edit, Find, enter 8000FFFF in the Find what: field and then click Find Next. Please include the entries just prior to and after the first instance of 8000FFFF up to where it shows

WARNING: Failed to find updates with error code 8000FFFF

The Sessions.xml appears to include all of the .xml files that should be present in the Sessions subfolder. Key word being should. Sessions.xml is also located in WINDOWS\servicing\Sessions Right click Sessions.xml, choose Edit. Scroll all the way to the bottom and copy&paste all entries that were created today, 3/31, please .

In the meantime, I'll see if I can come up with a URL to the latest version of the WUA that doesn't involve downloading .cab files and installing them using WUSetupV.exe.

I can't see why Windows is unable to connect to the automatic updates service. The only firewall on here is the Windows one (ZoneAlarm won't install with Win7). I'd turned off Avast, so that wasn't it. The modem/router isn't set to block Windows, as far as I recall.

I've been posting on a separate thread. I have the same problem with error 8000FFFF. There is no Wusetupv.exe on my machine.

Has anyone found a solution? The only meaningful suggestion I've had is to reinstall Win 7, but I'm worried that will trigger the "time expired" for new installations and leave me high and dry. I'd rather find the specific problem and fix it.

This must be a major concern for Microsoft - it can't be a satisfactory way for the updater to behave.

Hi

I merged both of these threads concerning this same Windows Update fails with error code 8000FFFF issue.

Hopefully, this will make it easier to track the progress.Thank You for testing Windows 7 Beta Ronnie Vernon MVPForum Moderator

Let's do a little rummaging around, Keith ... I think the driver downloaded just happened to coincide with the updating failure. Open the registry editor and navigate toHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Component Based Servicing*Right* click Component Based Servicing and choose Permissions.

Under Component Based Servicing, expand ApplicabilityEvaluationCacheAt the bottom of the list are there any WUClient entries listed ?If yes, what are they ?

Now expand UpdateDetectAre these listed ?

AdmAuxCoreUI

If they are, in the right frame there should be Value Names listed under Default.*Right* click them and choose Modify.Copy the Value Name and paste them into your reply.DO NOT make any registry changes at the present time. Click Cancel to close the window.

Please check this subkeyHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\COMPONENTSClick on COMPONENTSAre any of these ValueName listed in the right frame ?

IF the answer is yes, then right click and delete them.Close the registry editor.

Open the Services console or, right click Computer on the Desktop, choose Manage.Expand Services and Applications and then open Services.Please check these Services and their Startup type.Also, be sure that services listed as Automatic are in a running state.

I have noticed that this problem goes way back to february, and people are blaming all sorts of things for their problems. I have just been given a new laptop without any o/s. I decided today to install windows 7 to see how it would perform on this machine. After almost 2 hours installing, with only the drivers for the soundcard not being found,I was ready to go. The first thing I did was to go to windows update, and surprise, suprise ERROR code 8000FFFF. There are no other programs or software packages installed on this machine, just W7. Therefore the problem must be with the O/S.

Under ApplicabilityEvaluationCache: no WUClient entries. There is Microsoft-Windows-Winhelp-Update... and five entries of Package_for_KB...

Under UpdateDetect Adm, Aux, Core and UI are not listed.

HKLM\COMPONENTS Those three are not listed.

Services: All the Automatics were showing "Started" except for "SoftwareProtection". I started that one. The services you list are all there, set as you said, except for WindowsModulesInstaller which shows as "Manual" but doesn't have the remark [TrustedInstaller.exe].

You're welcome, Keith and thanks for sticking with this. I'm learning here, too. <w> [TrustedInstaller.exe] was added on by me to indicate that WindowsModuleInstaller is TrustedInstaller.exe. It should not be appended to WindowsModuleInstaller .

I think that the missing Adm, Aux, Core, and UI under UpdateDetect indicates that the WUA is completely unregistered and it's files are no longer present. Since the System File Checker can't run ... short of an 'in place upgrade' or a format/reinstall, this is going to be a tough nut to crack. But what the heck ... I'm game. There is no URL that is able to download the previous Version of the WUA that was present and I think that forcing an install of the lastest Version will not resolve this error since there are files and registry entries missing. Thus, Win7 can not evalulate applicability or installed rules nor contact the update servers.

You said in an earlier post that you did not want to re-install W7 as the time had passed for installing the beta. Have you tried to to a clean install. By that I mean completely erasing your hard drive and starting from scratch without any other O/S on seperate partitions, and do a fresh install of 7. I was having the same problem with the updates and last night I done a full format on my laptop and freshly installed 7 and it is working perfectly.(except that there are no drivers for my on board graphics). Unless you have lots of files and stuff that you really need, a clean install would be quicker than all the posts that you have made.

You said in an earlier post that you did not want to re-install W7 as the time had passed for installing the beta. Have you tried to to a clean install. By that I mean completely erasing your hard drive and starting from scratch without any other O/S on seperate partitions, and do a fresh install of 7. I was having the same problem with the updates and last night I done a full format on my laptop and freshly installed 7 and it is working perfectly.(except that there are no drivers for my on board graphics). Unless you have lots of files and stuff that you really need, a clean install would be quicker than all the posts that you have made.

Hi nm6174

Thanks for the feedback.

Reinstalling is the last option and should only be used after everythong else has been tried.

The folks in this thread are trying to troubleshoot and document a fix for this common and very difficult problem. The question that needs to be answered is "what happens during the reinstall that fixes this problem"?

Sorry,but I am not very technically minded when it comes to reading all the techy stuff in the log files and I really don't understand most of it. I installed the beta on my desktop PC when it was first released and it performed quite well for about two weeks. I installed all the updates as they were made available, and then all of a sudden I got the aforementioned error. After reading all the posts and not being able to find a solution for the problem, I decided to uninstall. A couple of days ago I was given a laptop without an operating system on it. I installed XP and then done an upgrade to vista and everything was ok. I then decided to see if 7 would run on the laptop, so I done an upgrade to 7, and when I done the first scan for updates it failed with 8000ffff error. As requested I tried to submit the log file, but it was far too big to be submitted. After looking at all the posts on this page and with the prospects of no solution in sight(it's been 5 weeks now) I decided to go for the easy option and done a full clean install. Since I have done this I have had no problems. As you have quite rightly stated that this forum will help others(technically minded) diagnose the faults and find a solution. Sorry but I am not one of them.

I also have the same error, and the same date and time stamp in windows update and CBS Log has identical errors. My computer is a new HP with Vista Ultimate 64 8 gig of memory and two 1TB sata drives. One drive is for Vista and the other is for Windows 7. I am just using Windows firewall and VIPRE anti-virus on the windows 7 OS. The only programs running on this computer are Microsoft Office 2007, CorelDraw Office Suit X3, and Monzilla Firefox. I left IE as default so there would be no issues with updates. I did have several issues with IE not opening pages after you were connected to different sites, so on came Monzilla. I did happen to note that the update on the 19th of Feb started on its own and of course attempted a restart. I know my duel boot system defaults to Windows Vista and if not opened it will login to Vista. I also tried the clean boot theory and still had the same issue. Stopped service cleared SD folder started service still same error. I have two theroies that could have happened. 1st the update test that was previously mentioned was set to turn off updates to Windows 7 Beta and was tested on random updates. The 2nd, theory is that the update got corrupted due to Windows 7 doing an automatic restart and loading Vista instead. The only thing that I have read that fixed this issue is reinstall. I hope that this is not the issue. Thanks to everyone for all the information. I can say that I did not even think about the CBS-diag.log. I am sure it will help MSFT and other users in the future. I have just about given up hope on saving this installation of Windows 7. You guys are ausome. Keep up the good work. We will prevail.

I'm back from rural parts. The Win7 machine had crashed on Thursday evening at a time when I was away, and not using the VPN, and there's no indication of what caused it. A separate problem (maybe/probably) to be worried about later if it does it more often.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Component Based Servicing\UpdateDetect\CoreClientCollectionUltimateMicrosoft-Windows-Help-CoreClientUAUE-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~en-US~6.1.7000.0

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Component Based Servicing\UpdateDetect\AuxWUClient-SelfUpdate-Aux-AuxComp~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~en-US~7.4.7000.81

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Component Based Servicing\UpdateDetect\CoreClientUltimateMicrosoft-Windows-Help-CoreClientUAUE-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~en-US~6.1.7000.0

Something just caught my eye after reading your post. My versions are all 7.3.7000.0 and yours are 7.4.7000.81. I checked the update log again and this is what I found. Where the error started and it states version 7.4.7000.81 see below in black.

Just chcked my Windows Update log and on Feb 18th, there was one listed as:

Windows Update Agent 7.4.7000.81

Installation date: ‎2/‎18/‎2009 3:23 AM

Installation status: Successful

Update type: Important

The Windows Update Agent enables your computer to search for and install updates from an update service. The agent can automatically update itself as needed to communicate with the update service when Windows searches for new updates.

So it would seem that those machines getting this error either got a failure on the update to the 7.4 version or it never arrived on their system. Now all we need to do is figure out why - and how to fix it.

I also did a search on my computer and the only update on my C drive dated 2/19/2009 was the winsxs directory. This directory is hugh and does a side by side copy of every install. nothing else in the windows directory or updates go to that date. This could be want a reinstall cleans up and repairs to allow the updates to sart again. It has been noted that if this file is moved or corrupted that updates will fail.

It's entirely possible. Can you check your Windows Update log to see if there were any updates to the Windows Update Agent done ever? If so, can you see what the status of that update was and post the contents of the details of said update record?

By this, I mean launch Windows Update and click on View Update History. Look for one titled "Windows Update Agent 7.4.7000.81"

First off, Shutdwn user declined update at shutdown... Do you recall if you perhaps maybe told Windows Update NOT to reboot your system following an update? Eh... That doesn't make much sense - it would have installed the update the next time you shut down and restarted. But the last item I quoted - the Setup FATAL: Downloading binaries for Self Update failed one...

That one makes no sense. You found the cab files on your hard drive. Unless... Maybe there was a CRC or other error in the files you downloaded.

I do not believe that I have ever refused an update, especially at shutdown. If I was shutting it down I was leaving, especially at 1659. I have refused shut down if I was doing something on line and it was downloading an update. What I saw was interesting was it was waiting to wake from hibernation to down load then this refused to accept update at shut down. Since Windows XP I have never let my computers hibernate. I either leave them running or completely shutdown.

I noticed that keith also had another issue, which I have also had several times, and that is locked p and had to force a shut down, by rebooting. This could have happened. I was also wondering if I used the wusa to extract these files if it would screw up the system? Never have tried to extract windows files, since windows 98. I dont even know if wusa is the appropriate appt. to do this with.

I'm back from rural parts. The Win7 machine had crashed on Thursday evening at a time when I was away, and not using the VPN, and there's no indication of what caused it. A separate problem (maybe/probably) to be worried about later if it does it more often.

I'm not sure how one would go about extracting and installing the contents of the .cab files. The operation involves checking previous files versions to evaluate applicability. Said information is located in the registry, WinSxS, and possibly, in Windows\servicing\Packages. There's no URL to download the latest Version of the WUA that was installed around the middle of February in Win7. In fact, I doubt it would install due to missing or corrupted file versions in the previously mentioned locations. Thus, the only recourse at this point in time is:

1) Figure out a method to restore the missing/corrupted files in the previously mentioned locations. 2) Attempt an 'in place' upgrade, which will reinstall the previous Version of the WIndows Update Agent [WUA]. 3) Format and reinstall Win7, which will then leave the system with the previous Version of the WUA.

Unfortunately, until someone can figure out why this issue is occurring in the first place, when the next Version of the WUA installs, the issue will reoccur.

Here's the URLs for the 4 .cab files from the WU.log if anyone wants to attempt to figure out how they get installed:

The above .cab files were downloaded to the rootdrive's SoftwareDistribution\SelfUpdate\Packages subfolder If the rootdrive is C:\

C:\SoftwareDistribution\SelfUpdate\Packages

One would have to create the Packages subfolder in SelfUpdate. I *think* that WuSetupV.exe, Windows Update Setup, is the mechanism that downloads the other .cab files. Once they are downloaded, I'm not sure if Windows Module Installer [TrustedInstaller.exe] is what actually performs the extraction and installation or if it's Windows Update Setup that does it. I suspect the former.

I tried running WuSetupV.exe from an Elevated Command Prompt and it opened an IE instance which informs one that to access Windows Update one must use either the Start Menu shortcut or the WU applet in Control Panel. That's why I concluded that WuSetupV.exe is the downloading mechanism for the .cabs.

Please note any messages that indicate the registering of the .dll failed.[/quote]

For some reason, the site won't let me reply to your post - it tells me the site is updating and please try later.

Anyway, all but two of those were successful. I got these messages:

The module "wuapp.dll" failed to load. Make sure the binary is stored at the specified path or debug it to check for problems with the binary or dependent .DLL files. The specified module could not be found.

The module "wudriver.dll" was loaded but the entry point DllRegisterServer was not found. Make sure that "wudriver.dll" is a valid DLL or OCX file and then try again.

There isn't a wuapp.dll in System32, so I tried with wuapi.dll, which worked OK.

I still got the error message with wudriver.dll, which is there. Same error.

Can someone pm or e-mail me the two files - wuapp.dll and wudriver.dll, or give me a link where I can download them? If the problem is caused by a glitch in one of those, it makes for a relatively simple fix.

Sorry, Keith, I made a mistake in a previous post. There is a wuapp.exe, there is no .dll file by that name.wudriver.dll is the Windows Update WUDriver Stub. That's the .dll the system needs. It has to be the same Version as the other update files on your system, 7.3.7000.0. That's the original .dll that Win7 installed. I'm aware of only one method [ besides sfc /scannow, system restore, and reformat/reinstall ] that can do that:

Access Vista Install DVD Files

At this point in time, whether you want to go through all that or not, is entirely up to you. I'm really hoping that this issue is fixed in later builds but, since no one from MS will acknowledge it's an issue, am not holding my breath.MowGreen
MVP Data Center Management - Update Services
Consumer Security

Well, I give up. I attempted to force the cap files to load, but could not get it to respond as it should. I was able to open and extract the cab files and I put them where they belong, but needless to say , I still could not update. I now have reinstalled windows 7 as an update, and everything updated as it should. There where no lost files and the only issue that I had was a driver that Microsoft installed that does not work properly with my wireless card. I gave this information to Microsoft when I first installed Windows 7, but I guess they have not fixed that issue yet. Hopefully it will get fixed with the final version. I have placed that information in another forum. By the way the last update it made was the 7.4.7000.81 version of the Loader. Thanks for everones help, I learned a lot.

A while ago I added a SATA drive to this machine (because I had one lying around), and cloned the Win 7 drive to it. I hoped that would predate the problem and provide "clean" versions of those files, but...

a) it didn't (the new drive was installed on Feb 22), and b) the system wouldn't let me replace the wudriver.dll with the one from the clone anyway. I couldn't even replace it with the machine booted to XP.

I made a copy called wudriver2.dll (no problem doing that) and tried regsvr32 wudriver2.dll but got the same error message about the entry point not being found.

sfc /scannow brings up an error message, and won't run.

Googling revealed quite a few sites offering downloadable versions of wudriver.dll at various levels for Vista machines, so it sounds as if there are ongoing problems with that file.

I'm going to leave it and live without updates, unless anyone has any more ideas (not including reinstalling Win 7, unless it's certain that it won't then tell me it's too late in the Beta testing to install it).

The whole process worries me about the robustness of Win 7. I've been very impressed with it, compared with XP and Vista, apart from this one issue.

Well, I give up. I attempted to force the cap files to load, but could not get it to respond as it should. I was able to open and extract the cab files and I put them where they belong, but needless to say , I still could not update. I now have reinstalled windows 7 as an update, and everything updated as it should. There where no lost files and the only issue that I had was a driver that Microsoft installed that does not work properly with my wireless card. I gave this information to Microsoft when I first installed Windows 7, but I guess they have not fixed that issue yet. Hopefully it will get fixed with the final version. I have placed that information in another forum. By the way the last update it made was the 7.4.7000.81 version of the Loader. Thanks for everones help, I learned a lot.

@ jpw -

Then the "In Place" upgrade fixed the issue. Cool. Looks like that may very well be quick and easy fix for this issue. And you're welcome for the assitance.

@ KeithjUK -

Yes, I know, you don't want to do it, but looks to me like an "In Place" Upgrade probably will take care of your update woes. Insert the DVD, boot from it, and do an UPGRADE the OS. Given the amount of time you've spent on this. 30 to 45 minutes doing this can't hurt. It will likely save what hair you have left.

@ MowGreen -

You can open .CAB files with utilities like WinZip and WinRAR and extract their contents.

Well folks. it appears that there are only 2 ways to resolve this issue:

1) An in place 'upgrade'2) A format and reinstall

@ Wolfie: I'm well aware of how to extract .cab files. The issue was centered on extracting their contents and getting the files installed so that information was being stored in the registry and WinSxS.

This thread is done. If anyone comes across the same or similar issue, please start a new thread.MowGreen
MVP Data Center Management - Update Services
Consumer Security

NP, Wolfie. I've seen this issue on Vista systems, too. Even a manual attempt at installing the WUA fails and the User is left with no recourse except the 2 in my previous posts. So, it appears the issue will continue in Win7 until someone can come up with another method to resolve it since MS apparently is under the impression that it's a non-issue. The method described in KB946414 does not resolve the 8000FFFF error in the situations that I've recently encountered. I'm done trying to convince anyone that it this is an issue that will have eventually have a major impact.MowGreen
MVP Data Center Management - Update Services
Consumer Security

I agree. You've given it your best shot. I've tried everything short of reinstalling (which in my view is an admission of defeat). I shall wait quietly, not updating, for the Win 7 Beta to stop working. Then I will have to decide whether to buy the released version or to go back to XP Pro, which "just works".

If Microsoft don't realise 8000FFFF is a problem that needs urgent attention, then they are indeed in trouble. When I was in the world of work, I would by now have put a hand-picked team on an issue like this.

I gave up on this a month ago and just did an in-place upgrade, which fixed it as has been described. I hope that MS is taking this bug seriously, though I highly doubt that there's any chance on getting any feedback on that.

Well it seems that you have given up now and decided that the best solution is for a re-install. I would suggest a format and re-install because I have found that if you upgrade you still get the same problems. I tried twice the upgrade path and still got the error. After a full clean install, it went smoothly and has been running about a week now and updates are all installing perfectly. I am running 32 bit on an Emachine laptop and the 64 bit on my desktop. I installed the 64 bit from scratch on the desktop on a seperate drive and I run XP from the other drive, and there are no conflicts. Could the problem have something to do with doing an upgrade rather than a fresh install, possibly causing conflicts between the operating systems. After the length of time that this thread has been open you would have thought that microsoft would have come up with a fix by now ?.

I would suggest that anyone that has this issue and wants to salvage their files and programs that are loaded, to at least try an upgrade first. I did and it solved all my problems. I did not even have to go find the drivers for my wireless card. When I went to update the drivers, there were two, Microsofts and my loaded drivers to choose from. That was a neat feature that I did not know about. Windows 7 is much easier to upgrade to itself than XP or Vista. I would say nothing ventured nothing gained. I have a duel boot system with Vista64 and Windows 7. The only suggestion that I have is after the upgrade downloads and gets ready to restart, remove the disk from your dvd drive. I did not and almost did a complete re-install. Windows 7 thanks, "Microsoft", when I went to install it asked again full install or upgrade. I choose upgrade and it gave, must have a version of windows running to perform an upgrade. Removing the disk and restarting Windows 7 found the correct path and upgraded my OS. This is the first time that I have not had driver issues, blue screens, and paths not found, when doing an upgrade. ALL UPDATES WORKED AFTER THE UPGRADE!!!

I gave up on this a month ago and just did an in-place upgrade, which fixed it as has been described. I hope that MS is taking this bug seriously, though I highly doubt that there's any chance on getting any feedback on that.

The proof will be in the proverbial pudding - when the RC hits the download servers. If we don't see a rash of 8000FFFF errors on Windows Update, then it's probably fixed. If we do... Well...

I agree, this fixed this issue, but there will always be another error that will crop up that people like Moe, you, KeithJ, and I will spend several days trying to resolve and it will just go bye, bye. and just because the upgrade fixed it this time, does not mean that it wont comeback again, later down the road. There was an update error on vista, that I got into and I an several others found ways to correct it, but the correction did not work on all machines, and many had to upgrade, or re-install to solve the issue. These type of errors will haunt techs forever. No one wants to give up on an error that will come back and bite them. Again my thanks to MoeGreen, KeithJUK, Wolie2k6 and all the others that make this forum the best place to fix an error on the internet.

Yeah.. Well... IF and when another issue does pop up, we'll be back to hash the problem out... Keep in mind that an OS the size of Win 7 is a fairly complicated pile of code. There's NO such thing as 100% bug free code when you get as complex as this. That's what we're here for: finding, reporting and squashing bugs.

On the basis diminishing returns said we're not going to get to the root of the problem this time around, I did a reinstall - in some trepidation. I chose the "update" route: a fresh install from scratch would have tried my patience too far.

No problems whatever: it installed, went off and got a bunch of updates I'd not had previously, and all is working fine including the update routine. Case closed this time around.

The wu* files are version 7.4.7000.81 dated 9/4/09. The previous ones were 7.3.7000.0 (as above). I have suspicions about the cause of the problem.

If it does it again, I'll start a new thread and put a reference in here.

I suspected as much. That fix, as we all know, is only targeted at Vista.

The generic 8000FFFF error quite possibly covers a few different underlying faults, however. So it might be interesting to know if removing an errant PendingXmlIdentifier fixes the problem for some people. Without details, though, such a report ('I clicked a button and it fixed it') is no help to anyone.